Mastering the Art of the
Dialogue Tag
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
The dialogue tag is a crucial creative writing tool that can make or break your fiction manuscript. I’m not being melodramatic—a lot of literary agents and publishing house editors repeatedly call out dialogue tag errors as one of the most obvious ways they separate professional authors from amateurs. But what exactly is a dialogue tag? And how can you avoid making common dialogue tag mistakes? “Read on to find out,” she said.
What is a Dialogue Tag?
A dialogue tag is a phrase or clause used in scene and dialogue to indicate which character is speaking. You generally use dialogue tags when you have two or more characters in a scene. (If a character is thinking, you’d use a thought tag, but that’s more related to formatting interiority than speech tags.) A dialogue tag can be as simple as "said" or "asked," but it can also be used to convey emotion (e.g., "yelled," "whimpered," or "pleaded"). Though this is where a lot of writers get in trouble—they let a dialogue tag do the work of the dialogue itself, which is a big no-no. More on that in a moment. Dialogue tags are an essential part of any story because they provide context and clarity for readers by indicating who is talking and any other subtle signals a writer wants to send about what’s happening in scene.
Dialogue Tag Examples
When writing dialogue between two characters, it's important to pay attention to the way you use the dialogue tags that you weave into the scene. A good rule of thumb is to only use one dialogue tag per instance of speech, if that. If you use too many, it can become distracting for readers and slow down the story pacing. Additionally, avoid using overly descriptive dialogue tags, such as "he declared" or "she remarked." Stick with the default “said” and “asked,” which disappear into the background for most readers, whenever possible.
When you have multiple characters in scene, work toward creating a distinct writing voice for each by leaning into specific syntax and word choice. That way, you won’t need a dialogue tag each time they speak to differentiate between characters. You can also use action tags or narration in the same paragraph as a character’s dialogue to convey who is speaking. For example:
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Bill asked.
Sarah yawned. “Oh, I don’t know. This fog really has me tired. I don’t feel like the day has even started yet.”
“Sarah! It’s the afternoon!”
Bill’s brother rolled his eyes. “Nothing is more boring than talking about the weather.”
In this example, we use one dialogue tag and two action tags, and we have three characters.
Imagine the scene with dialogue tag overload instead:
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Bill asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. This fog really has me tired. I don’t feel like the day has even started yet,” Sarah said.
“Sarah! It’s the afternoon!” Bill said.
“Nothing is more boring than talking about the weather,” Bill’s brother said.
You might notice that this level of dialogue tag is unnecessary.
And now let’s see it with “said” and “asked” synonyms:
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” Bill inquired.
Sarah groaned, “Oh, I don’t know. This fog really has me tired. I don’t feel like the day has even started yet.”
“Sarah! It’s the afternoon!” Bill exclaimed.
“Nothing is more boring than talking about the weather,” Bill’s brother droned.
This would make each dialogue tag pretty distracting.
Now, for fun, here’s a version without dialogue tags at all:
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This fog really has me tired. I don’t feel like the day has even started yet.”
“Sarah! It’s the afternoon!”
“Nothing is more boring than talking about the weather.”
Here, it’s unclear how many characters there are. We get one name, but readers would have no way of knowing whether there are two or three people in scene.
Dialogue Tag Mistakes
The most common mistake writers make when using dialogue tags is relying too heavily on them—if you overuse them, your story will become bogged down in unnecessary details. Show emotion behind a character's words through their actions rather than through a dialogue tag (e.g., “he slammed his fist on the table” instead of “he shouted angrily”). Which brings me to perhaps the biggest mistake writers make: don’t use adverbs in a dialogue tag.
Another thing to be mindful of when using dialogue tags is not using them as a crutch for conveying emotion in your story—that should come from either what the character says itself or how they say it (you can pair the dialogue with an action or a description of body language, though this can be overused as well). If you find yourself relying too much on a dialogue tag to convey emotion, read up on showing vs. telling writing.
Ultimately, finding balance when writing out conversations between characters comes down to practice—the more you write scenes with multiple characters involved, the easier it'll be for you to know instinctively which words work best in certain situations when it comes to dialogue tag use. Don't be afraid to experiment. The humble dialogue tag plays an integral role in your writing toolbox, and now you know how to use it more intentionally.
Click here to purchase Writing Irresistible Kidlit, my book on fiction craft for MG and YA novels, out from Writer's Digest Books. This will show you my writing craft philosophy and give you lots of valuable advice, including tips for the novel revision process and self-editing. There are over 35 example novels cited and discussed throughout. It’s a valuable resource for any writer’s toolkit.
Click here to purchase Successful Query Letters, my book on query letters, including over forty examples with comprehensive notes on each one. There’s a ton of submission advice, best practices, and insider information in these pages, and you’ll really enjoy seeing what other writers are doing in the slush.